To the Death (episode)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)

"To the Death"
DS9, Episode 4x23 Production number: 40510-496 First aired: 13 May 1996
←	94th of 173 produced in DS9	→
←	93rd of 173 released in DS9	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 173 released in DS9 Remastered
←	418th of 727 released in all	→

Written By Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe Directed By LeVar Burton
49904.2 (2372)
	Arc: {{{wsArc0Desc}}} ({{{nArc0PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc0PartCount}}})
	Arc: {{{wsArc1Desc}}} ({{{nArc1PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc1PartCount}}})
	Arc: {{{wsArc2Desc}}} ({{{nArc2PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc2PartCount}}})
	Arc: {{{wsArc3Desc}}} ({{{nArc3PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc3PartCount}}})
	Arc: {{{wsArc4Desc}}} ({{{nArc4PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc4PartCount}}})

Following a hit and run attack on Deep Space 9 by a band of rogue Jem'Hadar, Sisko and his crew are joined by the Dominion on a mission to locate the rebels who have discovered another Iconian Gateway.

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

"Captain's log, stardate 49904.2. After driving away Breen privateers from the Bajoran colony of Free Haven we are returning to Deep Space 9."

Dax and Chief O'Brien are sitting in the mess hall aboard the USS Defiant discussing Molly's habit of coming to sleep in bed with her parents as Dr. Bashir gets a drink and approaches. Unknowingly, Bashir sits in Commander Worf's favorite chair, and when advised to choose a different seat by Dax and O'Brien, chooses to remain in the chair. Worf then enters the mess hall, gets an extra-large prune juice from the replicator and walks towards his favorite chair. Bashir quickly stands up and gives the chair to the commander, but then all senior staff are called to bridge by Captain Sisko, where they find out that Deep Space 9 has been attacked and an Upper Pylon has been destroyed.

Deep Space 9 missing upper pylon 3

The scene changes to the attacked portion of the station, where Quark is looking for his brother Rom, and finds out that he is fine and working with the damage control teams headed by Kira Nerys. Odo then gives Kira a preliminary report of stolen items, and reports that a Jem'Hadar strike team had beamed in from a civilian transport, set off a bomb in Upper Pylon 3, and stole some items from the science labs. The Jem'Hadar had left only 45 minutes ago, so Sisko decides to follow their ion trails through the wormhole with the Defiant.

[edit] Act One

The Jem'Hadar had used a Magneton pulse to hide their trail, and the Defiant stumbles upon a badly-damaged Jem'Hadar attack ship. Sisko has the hurt Jem'Hadar transported aboard the Defiant without their weapons. The Vorta Weyoun is among the transported Jem'Hadar, says that his ship was attacked by Jem'Hadar also, and wishes to speak privately with Captain Sisko. He offers to make the captain absolute ruler of the Federation, and when his offer is denied, he says that he's only trying to make a bridge between the Dominion and the Federation. He then offers to help Sisko find the Jem'Hadar that attacked Deep Space 9, but requests his help in killing them since they are rebels. He tells the captain that rebels are trying to repair an Iconian gateway and use it for themselves, which would allow them and other Jem'Hadar that join them to take over the Dominion in less than a year. After considering the power of an Iconian gateway, Sisko agrees to help Weyoun destroy it and the rebel Jem'Hadar.

[edit] Act Two

The scene begins by the crew expressing their disagreements with the captain's decision. The captain informs the crew about a joint briefing between the Jem'Hadar and Defiant crew to discuss their plans on destroying the gateway. The crew finds out that there are about 150 rebel Jem'Hadar, that they are unable to attack the planet itself from space, and that they will have to beam onto the planet to take care of the rebel Jem'Hadar by hand. During the debriefing, tension rises between Worf and a Jem'Hadar soldier.

[edit] Act Three

The crew of the Defiant and the Jem'Hadar are doing training drills. Meanwhile, in a turbolift the Jem'Hadar First tells Weyoun that the Jem'Hadar know the secrets Weyoun has hidden from them. The First reaffirm his men's loyalty to the Founders, and that they will make sure the rebels die. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Dax is annoyed that a Jem'Hadar has been staring at her for two hours, trying to learn her behavior because she is on his battle squad. While talking to the Jem'Hadar, Dax discovers that the Jem'Hadar do not sleep or eat. There are no female Jem'Hadar, and a Jem'Hadar is considered an honored elder if he reaches the age of twenty. Later in the mess hall, the Jem'Hadar bring a container of white to Weyoun and ask him to distribute some, which Weyoun does. The Jem'Hadar confront Dax, O'Brien, Worf, and Odo, at their table, and one of Jem'Hadar threatens O'Brien. Worf attacks the Jem'Hadar soldier, starting a brawl. Sisko intervenes and stops the fracas, and the Jem'Hadar leader kills the soldier who started the fight. The Jem'Hadar leader tells Sisko to hurry up and kill Worf, but Sisko confines Worf to his quarters while not on duty for the remaining of the mission. The Jem'Hadar leader then tells Sisko that he is weak, that Sisko should have died in the place of the Jem'Hadar soldier, and that when the mission is over, he will make sure that he does.

[edit] Act Four

Weyoun confronts Odo in a hall and tells him that his people still love him, and that they want him back. Odo says that he does not love them back, and that he does not want to return. Later on, O'Brien gives a good-bye message for Keiko to Dax, just in case he dies. O'Brien states that this is his eleventh "just in case" message for Keiko since they've been married, while Dax attempts to comfort him she tells O'Brien that she made one for her mother also. Before going to his quarters as ordered, Worf approaches Sisko to warn him to stay on the ship during the battle, and when Sisko chooses not to, Worf tells the captain to be watchful.

The crew with the Jem'Hadar

As the Defiant is approaching the planet with the gateway, O'Brien hands out phasers to the crew and the Jem'Hadar. The weapons are set to stun and the Jem'Hadar quickly set all their weapons to maximum power. When the team gets on the planet, they find out that the gateway is not allowing their weapons to fire, and they are surprise attacked by the rebel Jem'Hadar. Two Starfleet officers are killed, and the rest of the team fights with the rebels hand to hand. While the Jem'Hadar and the Starfleet officers are fighting the men in front, Dax, Worf, a Starfleet officer, and three Jem'Hadar soldiers enter the ziggurat and attack the rebel Jem'Hadar inside.

[edit] Act Five

O'Brien tells Sisko that the explosives they brought will work even with the gateway's interference, and enters the gateway room alongside two Jem'Hadar to set up the bomb. The leader Jem'Hadar is being attacked by a decloaking Jem'Hadar, and Sisko risks his life saving him making the Jem'Hadar reconsider his threat to kill the captain. They all exit the room and the ziggurat. Weyoun beams down after the explosion, and is shot by the leader Jem'Hadar for questioning the Jem'Hadar's loyalty. The Jem'Hadar then decide to stay on the planet to hunt and kill the remaining rebels, while the Starfleet officers beam aboard the Defiant and return to Deep Space 9.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Omet'iklan, control your men. These people saved our lives."
"And for that we shall take advantage of their mistake."

- Weyoun and Omet'iklan

"There'll be a joint briefing session at 1900 hours."
"Followed by a get-to-know-you buffet at 1930."
"And I forgot my dress uniform."

- Sisko, O'Brien, and Dax

"It is as you said. The Klingon will to fight pales in comparison to our own."
"Yes. He has the look of a warrior, but the heart of a coward."

- The Jem'Hadar, speaking among themselves before the battle

"Am I really that interesting? You've been standing there staring at me for the last two hours."
"You are part of my combat team. I must learn to understand your behavior. Anticipate your actions."
"There must be something you'd rather do. Maybe get some sleep?"
"We don't sleep."
"How 'bout getting something to eat?"
"The white is the only thing we need."
"Don't sleep. Don't eat. What do you do for relaxation?"
"Relaxation would only make us weak."
"You people are no fun at all! Glad I'm not a Jem'Hadar woman..."
"There are no Jem'Hadar women."
"So what do you do... lay eggs?"
"Jem'Hadar are bred in birthing chambers. We are able to fight within three days of our emergence."
"Lucky you... so let me get this straight: No sleep. No food. No women. No wonder you're so angry. After thirty or forty years of that I'd be angry too."
"No Jem'Hadar has ever lived thirty years."
"How old are you?"
"I am eight."
"I would have guessed at least fifteen."
"Few Jem'Hadar live that long. If we reach twenty, we are considered Honored Elders... how old are you?"
"I stopped counting at three hundred."
(stunned) "You don't look it."
"Thank you."

- Dax and Virak'kara

"I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember, victory is life."
(in unison)"Victory is life."
"Such a delightful people."

- Omet'iklan, Jem'Hadar troops, and Weyoun

"I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way."
"Amen."

- O'Brien, to the Federation attack group after the Jem'Hadar war cry is first heard, and Sisko

[edit] Background Information

This episode was filmed after "The Quickening" but it aired the week before.
According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, "To the Death" was written specifically to give the Jem'Hadar more depth; "our intention was to show that the more you learn about them, the less you want to be around them. If you meet the Borg on a one-on-one basis, they're kind of cuddly, and when you get to know the Klingons, they're not so scary anymore. But the Jem'Hadar, when you really get to know them, are damn scary guys." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
This episode featured the second Iconian gateway after its introduction in TNG: "Contagion". Some of the places shown in the Iconian gateways are Starfleet Command, Paris, Earth, and Bajor.
This episode marks the first appearance of Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) in the series. Of the character, Combs says, "Weyoun is the snake of the universe. He's the smiling car salesman who'll tell you anything to make you feel as if you're the most important thing in his life just to get you to buy his product." Combs claims he based the performance on a scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon where two characters are being really formal and nice to one another, showing perfect etiquette, but under the surface, it is obvious they despise each other. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
The character of Weyoun was written to be a one-show character, but the producers were so impressed with Combs, and the character got such a strong reaction from the fans, that they decided to bring him back in season 5, inventing the concept that the Vorta routinely clone themselves to explain it. According to Ira Steven Behr, "[in] multitalented Jeffrey Combs, we finally had a Vorta who sold the Vorta." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
According to the script, when Weyoun "claps" Odo on the shoulder, he infected him with the virus that presents itself in "Broken Link" and necessitates his return to the Great Link (although the way the scene is filmed does not allow the "clap" to be seen on screen). [1] This means that as of this point, Odo is infected with two viruses, one by Starfleet and one by the Founders. One may assume the Starfleet virus was dormant during Odo's return to the Great Link at the end of the season.

Although this has been labeled a false rumor by Ronald D. Moore (AOL chat, 1999), it is written in the script.

This episode is the first ever Star Trek show to be cut for violence. According to Ira Steven Behr, forty-five seconds of hand-to-hand combat was cut prior to the episode being screened. This displeased Behr a great deal; "that really hurt the show. We built up to this battle and now it's just perfunctory. The fans who wrote letters on the internet saw that the rhythms were thrown off." Similarly unimpressed was stunt co-ordinator Dennis Madalone; "in the first edited version, fifty-two Jem'Hadar had been killed. Dax had killed ten and Sisko had killed seven. But when the censors got hold of it, they took out over thirty-two Jem'Hadar deaths." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) The BBFC added a further five seconds of picture and sound censoring and rated the episode 15.
The outdoor material for this episode was shot in Griffith Park's bird sanctuary.
This is the first time we have seen the Vorta since "The Search, Part II".
Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun) and Brian Thompson (Toman'torax) later appeared in ENT: "Babel One", "United", and "The Aenar" together, playing Commander Shran and Admiral Valdore respectively.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
This episode bears some interesting (although entirely coincidental) similarities to Stargate SG-1. The Iconian gateways enable people to travel all over the galaxy to different star systems without the use of a starship and were built thousands of years ago by aliens who seem to have disappeared. The same is true of the Stargates. In this series, the Jem'Hadar serve the Founders and worship them as gods, in Stargate SG-1, the Jaffa serve the Goa'uld and worship them as gods. In this episode, the main action takes in an ancient structure called a ziggurat as did the action in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Tomb". Rene Auberjonois (Odo) and Armin Shimerman (Quark) have both made guest appearances on that series as well.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.12, 28 October 1996.

This was one of only two volumes of DS9 (the other being 4.10) to receive a 15 certificate, due to the level of violence.

As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Greatest Battles: 16 November 1998.
As part of the DS9 Season 4 DVD collection.

The Region 2 release of this episode recuts the moment where the First breaks the neck of the Second as a punishment. Instead of seeing the actual breaking, a shot of Worf is shown. The sound of the bone breaking is also removed.

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Guest Stars

Previous episode:
"For the Cause"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 4

Next episode:
"The Quickening"

Create a new article Upload a new image
Search Random page Upload image Recent changes	Help Newest articles Special pages What links here Recent changes Random page